Archive by category 'Yoga For Health'

Yoga For Health

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10
Jan 12

Breast cancer survivors with joint pain use yoga for health and healing

Each year, more than 230,000 American women are diagnosed with breast cancer, the National Cancer Institute estimates. Those who are postmenopausal are often given aromatase inhibitors, a class of drug that shuts off estrogen production and can lead to serious joint pain. Fortunately, yoga for health and healing may be able to relieve this problem.

That's according to a new study published in EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing. Its authors, a group of scientists from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, found that doing yoga helped breast cancer survivors soothe their joint pain.

Also known as arthralgia, these aches can be quite serious. Being able to relieve them is a major part of getting through aromatase inhibitor therapy.

In the study, researchers led cancer patients through yoga classes twice a week and instructed them on how to do yoga at home.

After eight weeks, the results indicated that yoga and meditation were linked to reductions in joint aches and improvements in overall quality of life. Similar studies have shown that yoga classes can soothe many physical and mental symptoms for women with cancer.

That's the beauty of doing Dahn Yoga for health – as the nation's premier holistic mind-body regimen, it can improve wellness for people of all different health levels.

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20
Dec 11

More African-American women use yoga for health problems

All across Arizona, women of all ages, backgrounds and body types are using yoga's best stretching exercises, meditation techniques and self-healing methods to improve their well-being. In particular, more African-Americans are turning to the holistic regimen than ever before.

It's little wonder, really – after all, a 2008 survey conducted by the Yoga Journal found that 49 percent of people use yoga to get healthy, compared to 2003, when just 5 percent reported doing yoga for that reason.

However, in terms of maintaining a healthy body, there is a new sense of urgency among African-American women. According to Kaiser Health News, one-half of this group is obese, compared to 30 percent among all women.

Including those who are overweight but not obese, four-fifths of African-American females are too heavy, according to the Office of Minority Health. The news source reported that much of this disparity is due to a lack of opportunities for exercise and healthy eating among minority youth.

So what can be done? Many African-Americans are turning to yoga for health problems in an attempt to moderate their weight and reduce their risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

The holistic therapy has become so popular among these individuals that related organizations are springing up everywhere. One of the largest, the International Association of Black Yoga Teachers, recently turned 10.

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5
Dec 11

NFL running back does yoga for health and healing…and charity

It's an uncommon sight: a 230-pound NFL player quietly doing yoga, and even leading a large class at a yoga retreat center. However, that's just what hundreds of eager yoga practitioners recently saw at Stevenson University's Mustang Arena. It was there that Ravens fans got to watch running back Ricky Williams teach the crowd yoga for health and healing.

The 34-year-old pro football player spent 90 minutes leading yoga classes at the stadium, followed by a round of questions and a charity raffle to benefit children's health and fitness, according to the Towson Patch.

Though he is a Heisman Trophy winner and a successful NFL running back, Williams has not led the easiest of lives. Diagnosed with crippling social anxiety disorder, he was forced to temporarily retire from pro football after testing positive for marijuana.

However, Williams has turned his life around, and today he credits yoga for much of his recovery. The holistic regimen reportedly keeps him calm, too.

"I was surprised that he was so humble despite what he does for a living," yoga instructor Michelle Cagan told the news source. "He's a big tough football player, but he had a kind, gentle presence about him."

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28
Nov 11

Patients, physical therapists utilize yoga for health and healing

Americans are wild about yoga. At last count, almost 16 million adults admitted to using the holistic healing regimen now and then, according to a survey conducted by the Yoga Journal. But while many people take mind-body classes as a way to relax, plenty of others rely on yoga for health and healing.

In fact, the American Physical Therapy Association states that yoga is quite often used as a supplemental treatment for individuals who are recovering from injury, stroke or illness.

The organization recently pointed to a widely publicized study appearing in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, which found that yoga and stretching can reduce the severity of lower back problems.

That's not all it can do. Research published in the journal Physical Therapy determined that yoga-based therapies may help individuals recover some of their muscular coordination after a stroke.

Another paper, this one included in the Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology, found that yoga exercises can ease the pain and discomfort of fibromyalgia.

One might even expect Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords to be using yoga in her physical therapy sessions. While she is not, she told ABC News that she used to be a fanatic for yoga classes in Arizona.

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1
Nov 11

Learn to use yoga for health problems like diabetes

Stretching exercises for seniors can improve muscle mass, flexibility, mobility and range of motion, but does that make them appropriate for yoga enthusiasts of all ages? Sure it does, especially considering the widespread risk of metabolic conditions like diabetes.

Since November is American Diabetes Month, here is a quick summary of the extent of this condition in the U.S., as well as the ways that doctors have suggested using yoga for health problems like diabetes.

More than 26 million children and adults have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, and another 79 million are at risk for the latter variety of the condition, according to the American Diabetes Association.

Much of this prevalence is due to genetic predisposition, poor dietary habits and lack of exercise. What can be done about it? Well, individuals who already have diabetes are essentially stuck with it, but that doesn't mean they can't improve their health with yoga-based interventions.

Likewise, people who don't have the condition but are at risk for it may reduce their likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes by engaging in yoga and meditation. A study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that doing yoga for as few as 10 days can lower cholesterol and blood sugar, potentially obviating two common risk factors for diabetes.

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10
Oct 11

Gabrielle Giffords skips yoga for health problems to attend husband’s retirement

Though she has been attending daily physical therapy sessions and using yoga for health problems for some time now, Representative Gabrielle Giffords will take time out from this intensive regimen to attend her husband's retirement ceremony.

The Arizona congresswoman, who narrowly avoided being killed during an assassination attempt in January 2011, has since made rapid strides toward recovery, due in part to hours spent engaging in the best stretching exercises, speech therapy routines and inpatient treatment, according to TIME.

Now, Giffords will take 24 hours off from her daily self healing program to visit her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, in the nation's capital, where his retirement ceremony will be held, the Houston Chronicle reports.

The news source noted that before a serious brain injury temporarily immobilized her, Giffords admitted being a big fan of yoga and motorcycles. By doing physical therapy every day, she has begun recovering at "lightning speed," her physicians told the newspaper.

With her husband's retirement from NASA and the U.S. Navy imminent, she may plan on spending more time with him and potentially getting back to the yoga and cycling that they both enjoy.

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4
Oct 11

Yoga for health problems extends to mental conditions

With World Mental Health Day coming up, it's important to note that doing yoga for health problems can be beneficial, even for people with debilitating psychological illnesses. So can a number of group-based physical and interactive therapies.

A trending article in the New York Times pointed to a new study, published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, which touted the benefits of so-called "talk therapy" for patients with schizophrenia.

The report found that one-on-one talking can – when incorporating methods borrowed from cognitive-behavioral therapy – help schizophrenic adults become less withdrawn and more social.

Similar studies have found that doing yoga for a healthy mind can mitigate depression among these patients. A study published in the journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica determined that yoga-based treatments can turn around asocial behavior and improve occupational skills in schizophrenic adults.

With a burgeoning number of complementary therapies available to people with mental disorders, the prospects for those with schizophrenia are looking better and better.

In a given year, about 1 percent of U.S. adults are diagnosed with the condition, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

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27
Sep 11

Q&A: How can I use yoga for health and headaches?

Maybe yoga can't help me with this, but I'm at the end of my rope… I have migraines, and they're getting worse every year. My prescriptions – Imitrex, Amerge, Maxalt – help some, but their side effects are simply awful. I have friends who use yoga for health problems, and I'd like to know if this holistic health regimen can help me with my headaches. Is there anything I can try?

-Oppressed Under Crushing Headaches, Scottsdale, AZ

Hi, OUCH, we're glad you came to us! There's plenty you can do. Quite a few doctors recommend yoga for health and headaches, and we'll explain how you can use stretching and deep breathing to your benefit, even when your migraines are at their worst.

These headaches of yours are a primary disorder, meaning they are the problem, rather than a symptom of some other condition or illness. Migraines are more common than you might think. The World Health Organization estimates that in the U.S., up to 8 percent of men and 18 percent of women suffer from migraines.

Besides the deep-set pain itself, the most common symptoms of a migraine are nausea, sensitivity to light or sound, and "auras" or strange distortions at the edges of your visual fields, the agency notes.

Yoga may reduce the pain and upset stomach, though not necessarily the heightened senses or the auras.

Studies published in several journals, like Headache and the Medical Science Monitor, have found that doing yoga regularly for at least three months appears to gradually reduce the frequency of migraines, as well as of anxiety, stress and tension related to headaches.

Fortunately, a quick Internet search shows that there are a number of Scottsdale yoga classes in your area, OUCH. You may consider signing up for one, and taking advantage of any techniques you learn for lowering blood pressure or mitigating pain.

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2
Sep 11

Study suggests diabetics may use yoga for health and fitness

If you use yoga for health and fitness, you probably already know that this healing regimen is a great way to relax your body, unburden your mind and stay physically fit. What you may not know, though, is that scientists are looking into the use of yoga for health problems like type 2 diabetes.

In fact, a recent investigation into the health effects of yoga concluded that type 2 diabetics who use the system regularly may see small dips in their weight and mild improvements in blood sugar stability.

Type 2 diabetes

With the current explosion of obesity in the U.S., the prevalence of type 2 diabetes is rising faster than ever before.

About 19 million Americans have congenital (type 1) or what was once called "adult onset" (type 2) diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. This organization adds that a further 79 million people are pre-diabetic, meaning that their insulin sensitivity is low enough that they may soon develop type 2 diabetes.

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases warns that this condition is a major cause of kidney failure, lower leg amputations, blindness, heart disease and stroke, and is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S.

Yoga and diabetes

In the new study, researchers from the Kasturba Medical College and Hospital in Mangalore, India, asked participants with type 2 diabetes to engage in a three-month yoga-based physical intervention.

The team found that this regimen was associated with a gradual decrease in volunteers' body mass indices (BMIs) and an improvement in blood glucose control.

"Yoga can be used as an effective therapy in reducing oxidative stress in type 2 diabetes. Yoga in addition to standard care helps reduce BMI and improve glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients," researchers concluded.

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16
Aug 11

Perimenopausal women can use yoga for health and headaches, not to mention hot flashes

You're going through menopause, you're flushed, you're sweaty and your head is pounding – you need relief now! It probably doesn't help that the most popular health articles published in newspapers like the New York Times sport headlines like "For Some In Menopause, Hormones May Be Only Option." But never fear. Plenty of perimenopausal women use yoga for health and healing.

This is not to say that the Times headline is incorrect. Physicians often prescribe hormone therapy for women with particularly severe or protracted menopause symptoms. Furthermore, new studies have indicated that several alternative treatments for hot flashes and night sweats simply do not work.

For instance, a study appearing in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine determined that soy isoflavones do not reduce hot flashes or improve bone health for women who have gone through menopause.

Another report, this one published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, determined that the median amount of time that menopausal women experience hot flashes is – brace yourself – a little more than a decade.

What do women have left, besides expensive pharmaceutical treatments? Several studies have shown that using yoga for health and headaches may incidentally reduce hot flashes, mitigate night sweating or improve general quality of living.

Two studies have appeared on the subject in the journal Maturitas. One found that yoga-based complementary therapy reduced the incidence of hot flashes by one-third. Another determined that health professionals may feasibly prescribe yoga as an alternative way to improve the quality of sleep and of day-to-day life for menopausal women.

Plenty of ladies already use yoga as a relaxation technique or fitness regimen. According to the Yoga Journal, nearly three-quarters of the 15.8 million yoga practitioners in the U.S. are women.

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